(Newser)
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Many Hong Kongers would like Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down—and Carrie Lam is apparently among them. In leaked audio from a meeting with businesspeople last week, Lam says she has caused "unforgivable havoc" and she would step down—if it was an option. "If I have a choice the first thing is to quit, having made a deep apology," she says in audio obtained by Reuters, suggesting that authorities in Beijing will not allow her to resign. But the "political room" for a leader who has to serve "two masters"—"the central people’s government and the people of Hong Kong"—"is very, very, very limited," she says. Since June, mass protests over an extradition bill introduced by Lam's government have turned into widespread unrest and calls for full democracy.

In the leaked audio, Lam says Beijing has not imposed a deadline for ending the protests and she does not believe troops will be sent in to deal with the unrest, the Guardian reports. "They are willing to play long, so you have no short-term solution," she says. "Hong Kong suffers, you lose tourism, economy, you lose your IPOs and so, but you can't do much about it." After the audio surfaced, Lam claimed that she had merely been explaining that resignation would be the easier choice, but she had decided to stay on "to help Hong Kong in a very difficult situation," the South China Morning Post reports. "I have not even contemplated discussing resignation with the central people’s government," she said Tuesday. "The choice of not resigning is my own choice." (Read more Hong Kong stories.)

How are the people in Hong Kong to defend themselves in the confrontation that's coming, the Chinese army has a miserable record in fighting other nations but is unmatched in gunning down unarmed civilians. Britain is responsible to see that those who want to resist can resist but I'm sure many more nations are interested in helping.

LoLzS

Sep 3, 2019 12:24 PM CDT

lol.. Man strong armed sure.. Smart, not hardly.. The Communist party has got to be some of the most foolish.

kawahchan

Sep 3, 2019 10:47 AM CDT

ICC : That is not a choice whether HKSAR's Carrie Lam wants to continue to be a Communist Dictator for Beijing to capture the Non-Mandarin Hong Kong democracy-freedom or Lam should quit under her political future; the fact is the United Nations Security Council and ICC (International Criminal Court) will send Carrie Lam an War Crime Arrest Warrant and put Lam on trial from ICC, charged of harming Hong Kongers without providing Democracy Votes for Hong Konger taxpayer-citizens.